Jones ready to pit his wits against Ipswich boss McCarthy

Mike Simmonds

Luton boss Nathan Jones is relishing the prospect of coming up against one of the most experienced managers in the game, Mick McCarthy, when his side host Ipswich in the Carabao Cup.

The 58-year-old, who played for the likes of Barnsley and Manchester City during his career, has been in charge of the Republic of Ireland, Millwall, Sunderland and Wolves, heading to Portman Road in November 2012.

McCarthy is now the 10th longest serving manager in the game, as Jones said: “I know Mick, I came across him at Brighton, I see Terry (Connor, assistant boss) at games.

“When I see Mick, I speak to Mick, he’s a fantastic manager, immensely experienced.

“It will be a real good test for me coming up against Mick, he’s seen it all really and I’m learning, so there’s a lot to be learned from guys like Mick.”

The Tractor Boys boss had come in for some criticism during pre-season after a 6-1 friendly defeat to Charlton, however, Jones didn’t think that would be any cause for concern in the slightest, as they opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Birmingham.

He continued: “Nothing’s won or lost in pre-season and I’m sure you probably lose six pre-season games to win your opener.

“I’m sure Mick can handle any pressure that he’s under and I wouldn’t want to comment on anything at Ipswich Town.

“They’re a fantastic football club, and have got a fantastic manager, so I’m more worried about my team and how they’ll fare.”

The Tractor Boys have strengthened well in the summer to after finishing 16th last season, with Joe Garner joining from Rangers, while they splashed out a reported £1m on fellow Ibrox striker Martyn Waghorn yesterday too.

Jones added: “They’ve got some wonderful players, I’ve come up against a lot of them.

“Luke Chambers is a player I’ve admired and come up against, Cole Skuse, someone I know very well personally as well as professionally.

“They’ve lost Darryl Murphy so they changed certain things but brought in a real tough cookie in Garner, the movement of (Freddie) Sears too.